Chapter Text
Jeonghan, who had been standing silently behind him, felt his stomach drop at the realisation. He watched as the colour drained from Jisoo’s face, his shock and disbelief evident in every tense line of his body. Jisoo looked as though the ground had been ripped out from under him, his lips trembling, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear, anger, and heartbreak.
Jisoo’s world felt like it was collapsing all around him. The woman—his mom—wrapped her arms around him tightly, and for a moment, Jisoo just stood there, frozen, too shocked to react.
Her voice. Unfamiliar but so distinct. “Yes, yes, I’m your mom. You remember me, right?”
But Jisoo couldn’t move. He didn’t have the strength to push her away, his body unresponsive as his mind raced. Was this really happening? Was this really her? The one who left her and her brother to pick up the broken pieces of a life she had shattered?
Before Jisoo could process it, his father stepped forward as he roughly pulled Jisoo away from her grasp, placing himself between them as a shield. “Don’t you dare touch my son,” his father yelled, his voice filled with a cold anger that Jisoo had never heard before.
Turning to Jisoo, his father’s expression softened, but his voice was firm, steady. “Jisoo.” He gripped his son’s shoulders as if to anchor him. Then, without hesitation, he glanced at Jeonghan. “Take him away from here. Don’t bring him back until I call.”
Jeonghan nodded, his usual calmness unshaken. He reached out to Jisoo, but before he could take him, Jisoo shook off his father’s hands, his eyes still glued to the floor.
“Why is she back?” Jisoo’s voice was low, barely more than a whisper. His heart pounded in his chest, each beat bringing more confusion, more pain. Why was she here? What did she want after all this time?
Before anyone could stop her, Jisoo’s mother pushed his father aside, her hands cupping Jisoo’s face as if he were something precious, something she had a right to claim. “Because I missed you,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion that Jisoo couldn’t believe was real. “I missed hearing your voice, calling me ‘mom.”
Jisoo’s gaze slowly lifted to meet hers, and for the first time, he saw her clearly—this woman who had caused him so much pain, who had disappeared when he needed her most. His eyes were filled with tears, and his voice shook as he spat, “Don’t bullshit me.”
His words hit her like a slap. Jisoo saw her flinch, but it didn’t matter.. “Why are you back? Why did you have to come back now?” His voice was louder now, trembling with fury. “You already caused so much shit— What more do you want? What else can you possibly ruin? Wasn’t the damage you did to us enough?”
His mother’s face fell, her hands still on his cheeks, but Jisoo felt nothing but disgust. Her eyes widened in shock as he continued, his voice cracking under the strain of his anger. “Get out. Please, just get out. Don’t come back.”
His mother’s lip trembled as she tried to speak, her voice shaking. “Jisoo-ah… I’m still your mom—”
Jisoo scoffed, tears streaming down his face, each word filled with bitterness and betrayal. “My mom?” he choked out, the word foreign on his tongue. “You’re not a mom. A mom wouldn’t abandon her kids like you did. A mom wouldn’t hurt her son like this,” Jisoo’s voice showed only a pitch of how much pain he was in. “A mom would care for her son, wouldn’t drive her family crazy with her drinking, wouldn’t leave her kids to pick up the pieces of the life she destroyed! If you were really my mom, you wouldn’t have left us alone! You would have been there to protect us!”
Jisoo’s sobs broke through, uncontrollable and raw. His mother’s face twisted with guilt, her hands dropping to her sides as she stood there.
His father’s voice cut through the silence, filled with sorrow. “Jeonghan, take him upstairs.” He sighed, the weight of the situation clear in his voice.
Jeonghan immediately moved toward Jisoo, his touch gentle but firm as he grasped Jisoo’s wrist, trying to guide him away. “Jisoo, let’s go upstairs,” Jeonghan urged, his voice soft but insistent. “Let’s calm down.”
But Jisoo wasn’t ready to leave, wasn’t ready to let go of the anger that burned inside him. “No!” he shouted, his voice breaking as more tears spilled over. “She doesn’t get to come back here and make Dad’s life a living hell again! She can’t just come back like nothing happened!”
Jeonghan looked at him, his voice steady as he whispered, “Jisoo. Let’s go upstairs. Let’s calm down. Listen to me… listen to your dad.”
Jisoo’s breath came in ragged gasps as his body shook with the force of his emotions. For a moment, it seemed like he might resist, like he might keep fighting, but then all the fight drained out of him. His shoulders slumped, and he nodded weakly, allowing Jeonghan to lead him away from the chaos downstairs.
Once they reached Jisoo’s room, his legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the floor, his energy completely spent. His body shook with sobs, his face buried in his hands.
Jeonghan knelt beside him, wrapping his arms around Jisoo’s trembling frame, holding him close as if that could somehow take the pain away. “I’m here, Jisoo,” Jeonghan whispered, his voice soft and comforting. “I’m right here. You’re okay.”
Jisoo clutched onto Jeonghan, his sobs filling the room as the emotions he had buried for so long finally broke free. “She has no right,” Jisoo choked out between sobs, his voice filled with so much hurt that it made Jeonghan’s heart ache. “She left us— She has no right to come back!—”
Jeonghan tightened his hold on him, pressing a gentle kiss to Jisoo’s temple. “I know, I get it, It’s okay,” he murmured.
Jisoo buried his face in Jeonghan’s chest, his sobs gradually softening into quiet, exhausted cries. His body felt heavy, drained of every ounce of strength, but in Jeonghan’s arms, he felt a tiny sliver of comfort. Jeonghan didn’t say anything more, didn’t try to fix the situation or offer empty words of reassurance. He just held Jisoo, he hoped that would be enough.
Jisoo might have been wrecked, but that was more than enough.
—
Jisoo’s father sat down across from his ex-wife, his face worn and weary. He leaned forward, lowering his voice to a whisper so no one but her could hear. "How many times do I have to repeat myself?" he sighed. "You left. Jisoo doesn't even want to live with you—what makes you think he'll willingly leave with you now?"
She didn’t answer immediately, instead taking a shot of her drink, her eyes focused on the glass as though it held the answer she was searching for. When she finally looked up, her gaze was firm. "I don’t care what it takes," she said, her voice sharp. "I'm going to take my son back."
Jisoo’s father clenched his jaw, his patience wearing thin. "Why now? Why do you need him so badly? You had years, all these years, to come back, to take care of Jisoo when he was young. Why now?"
Her lips curled into a half-smile, but there was no warmth in it. She poured herself another drink, her hands steady. "I have my reasons," she muttered before taking another shot. The liquid burned down her throat, but she barely flinched.
He sighed deeply, his frustration palpable. "You’ve got no right to claim him now," he said, staring at her. "Look how much you hurt him. Wake up, please. If you were truly his mom you would leave him alone because thats not what he wanted."
"Actually," she said, her voice a little more confident now, "I do have all the legal rights. He’s still under us until next year. The law is on my side, whether you like it or not." She leaned forward slightly, a hint of satisfaction in her eyes. "I need him. You had him for the past seven years. Give me my time with him."
His expression darkened, his hands tightening into fists at his sides. "Jisoo’s not some toy you can return when you get bored and pick up again when it suits you," he snapped, glaring at her. "He was a child when you left. A poor kid. You abandoned him. And what happened? The workers in this house ended up playing the role of his mother because I—" he hesitated, a trace of guilt flashing in his eyes, "I was too focused on work to realise how much he needed someone. Nobody raised him properly, and now he’s acting out."
Her expression softened slightly, as if she were about to say something, but he didn’t give her the chance.
"The only reason he’s turning his life around is because of Jeonghan," he continued, his voice hardening. "I hired him to take care of Jisoo. If it weren’t for him, I don’t know where Jisoo would be right now. He's helped him in ways neither of us could. I’m going to be the father Jisoo never had—because I wasn’t there when I should’ve been." His eyes locked onto hers, anger simmering beneath his words. "We’re both to blame for what happened to him, but the difference is, I’m trying to fix it. You? You haven’t even tried. You had all these years to try."
The silence that followed was heavy, but Jisoo’s mother didn’t flinch. Instead, she took another slow sip from her glass, her eyes calculating.
"You being here," Jisoo’s father said with a bitter laugh, "is fucking ridiculous. I should’ve never let you in the house in the first place." He stood up abruptly, glaring down at her. "My answer is no. Jisoo’s answer is no. So don’t even think about it."
He pointed to the couch, the blanket, and the pillow he had laid out. "You can sleep here for the night because you’re drunk. But first thing in the morning, you’re out." Without another word, he turned and walked away, leaving her alone in the dimly lit room, the tension still lingering in the air.
Jisoo’s mother watched him go, her mind already racing. She poured herself another shot, her lips curving into a faint smile as she swirled the drink in her hand.
His bodyguard? Jeonghan?